IAEA not referring Iran to UN Security Council for nuclear program

[JURIST] Anonymous officials revealed Monday that a US-European coalition has backed down from earlier threats to refer Iran [JURIST news archive] to the UN Security Council [official website] to account for its allegedly unsafe nuclear program. The officials say the decision not to have the 35 member-countries of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) [official website] refer Iran at a meeting this Thursday gives Iran more time to consider an offer by Russia, its nuclear partner, to move its uranium enrichment process to Russia itself, which would eliminate the chance of Iran producing weapons-grade material. Though Iran insists it is not interested in weapons-grade uranium, it has resisted Russia's proposal, claiming a right to all stages in the nuclear production process. Iran's parliament voted [JURIST report] Sunday to block UN inspectors from its nuclear facilities if the nation were referred to the Council; the Foreign Minister previously condemned a potential referral [JURIST report] as a "politically and illegally motivated decision." AP has more.

About Paper Chase

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible format.